Humble Filipino Worker Receives Help in Buying New Basketball Shoes from Stranger

“The spirit of Christmas is the spirit of love and of generosity. It illuminates the window of the soul, as we look out upon the world’s busy life and become more interested in people than in things.”

A gentleman stopped by a shoe boutique to buy himself a new pair of sneakers, when a fellow customer saw that he was in need, she didn’t hesitate to offer a helping hand.

Caloy Pineda posted the story on his personal Facebook account last December 8th. His post has been trending this past week, melting the hearts of fellow netizens.

Image via Caloy Pineda’s Facebook Page

According to Caloy, a man by the name of Rexel“in his late 30s to early 40s, wearing a [worn-out] shirt, [shabby] pants and an old pair of slippers entered [our] store.He looked at some shoes at the discount section and then glanced over their price tags, until he picked a pair—rubber shoes worth 1,200 pesos (transl.)”

When Rexel was waiting for his shoes at the checkout point, a fellow customer, Lilliam Quiat, approached him and started some small talk with kuya.

Lilliam had the opportunity to know that Rexel had been saving up his ‘hard earned money’ to replace his old pair of slippers with a brand new pair of World Balance sneakers.

Image via Caloy Pineda’s Facebook Page

Offering to help Rexel, Lilliam had to push the shy and humble gentleman to pick out an differing pair that he wanted, one whose remaining amount she can help him pay for. She would give him Php500 and he chose another pair.

Image via Caloy Pineda’s Facebook Page

In a Messenger conversation with Caloy, Lillian said “I really wanted to buy [him a whole new pair] but I didn’t bring my wallet with me. [The 500 pesos] was the last of my money. I was about to leave your store but I felt that I needed to do something to help out kuya (transl.)”

In his post, Caloy said that “[Rexel] wished us a very happy Christmas and walked out [with his new shoes]…I wanted to share this story to inspire other people. That in this world where fraud, chaos and greed exist, there are some people who understand what real humanity is about. (transl.) Christmas is truly a season of sharing without expecting anything in return.”